Joe Haggerty - NECN.com January 16, 2012

Daniel Paille has never been the kind of player that’s going to rack up heavy penalty minutes despite his role as an energetic attacker on the Bruins’ fourth line.

But the 27-year-old forward has quietly and efficiently taken things to a different level this season in terms of discipline and control. Paille is the only regular member of Boston’s lineup yet to take any kind of penalty this season, and isn’t sure he wants to delve too deeply into the “why” behind it.

But it also makes him something of a rare breed: the cleanest player on a Bruins team that prides themselves on getting into the face of opponents and working off an intimidating air about them.

“It’s not something I’m trying to do. There were a couple of questionable plays where I thought I was going to take a penalty and didn’t surprisingly,” said Paille. “I try to play the game a clean way, and I haven’t crossed over that line to deserve a penalty. It’s not something I normally talk about, but I’m there right now. It’s kinda odd.”

Some of it is pure happen stance, of course, as Paille admitted he’s probably gotten away with a few things here or thre through his first 37 games of the season. But the low PIM total is still impressive given that Paille ranks in the middle of the B’s team pack with 28 registered hits and nine takeaways on the season.

Bringing a physical presence built around his speed and tenacity is the first order of business for a forward line expected to bring a little thump to the game along with Shawn Thornton and Gregory Campbell.

It’s the same hustling, intelligent, gritty game that Paille has brought to the table over the last three years since arriving in a very underrated trade pulled off by Peter Chiarelli, but he’s simply doing his job even better than before.

Paille has already scored more goals this year (seven) than he did last season (six) and is only three points off last year’s total for the entire year. Of course the forward only played 43 games in something of a lost year after getting lost in the shuffle early in the season.

This season Paille has missed minimal time while battling through a shattered nose and a mild concussion, and has managed to steer off bad luck with some very good performances. It’s been a good overall season and a big step up from the aforementioned challenging campaign when Paille battled with consistency and confidence before hitting his stride late in the season just prior to the playoffs.

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